Photo: Welsh teammates William Richard Edwards (left) wearing a light blazer and scarf and
Maurice Turnbull (right) sporting a sweater and dark blazer, at Abergavenny in 1929.

We previously featured a profile on Wales hockey international, England Test cricketer, and Wales rugby international Maurice Turnbull. It posed the question: was he Britain’s most complete all-round sportsman?

In profile: Maurice Turnbull

Despite his multi-sports prowess, we knew of only one hockey photograph of Maurice, captured alongside his school teammates in 1922. He only played hockey three times for Wales, against all three Home Countries in 1929. We had no photographs showing him in his hockey-playing pomp. Our article included an appeal for more hockey images of Maurice, but it was met with silence … at least initially. We now have an update to this story – against all odds, a new photograph of Maurice has emerged 95 years later!

Our article on Maurice included a photograph of the Welsh Selection Book held in the Museum’s collection (reproduced below). Despite its flowery handwriting, one eagle-eyed follower would later spot the name of her father, Welsh international hockey player William Richard Edwards (“W R Edwards” in the book).

The Welsh Selection Book. From The Hockey Museum collection.

Noting that her father and Turnbull were contemporaries, her interest was piqued. She looked back through scans of material that she had donated to The Hockey Museum (THM) but which we hadn’t yet got around to cataloguing and was able to flag a postcard very pertinent to our appeal! It shows the Wales team that played Ireland in 1929, with William and Maurice standing together in the back right of the photograph.

The Wales men’s team that lost 0-3 to Ireland at Abergavenny on 2 March 1929.
Back, left to right: AT Cutter, RS Craig, J Archer, EM McDonnell, William R Edwards, Maurice J Turnbull.
Front, left to right: TS Neville, AT Sharpe, MDA Evans, A Angear, J Theophilius.

Edwards’s collection at THM was donated by his daughter Barbara. It contains his Welsh honours cap, a framed Welsh shirt badge, a book of cuttings relating to his career, several postcards and photos, as well as a personal history and career summary. His Welsh honours cap was previously featured in Hockey Shorts.

William Edwards’s archive donated by his daughter Barbara. It also contains material relating to other hockey-playing family members.